The financial news that actually matters
Workers earning the lowest wages in Alaska will see a dollar-an-hour raise less than a month from now. The state’s minimum wage jumps from $13.00 to $14.00 per hour on July 1, 2026, the second step in a phased schedule that voters locked into law during the 2024 general election. The increase affects hourly employees…
The U.S. economy added 172,000 jobs in May 2026 while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent, delivering a labor market snapshot that gives Federal Reserve officials little incentive to cut interest rates when they gather on June 16-17. The report, released today, lands less than two weeks before the Federal Open Market Committee…
Oregon workers facing wage garnishment will keep more of each paycheck starting July 1, 2026, when a new weekly floor of $400 takes effect for most garnishment calculations. The change, enacted through the Family Financial Protection Act, raises the minimum amount of earnings shielded from creditors and applies alongside the existing rule that protects 75%…
Florida homeowners who buy coverage through the state-run insurer of last resort are set to pay less this year after Citizens Property Insurance Corp. approved an average 8.7 percent rate reduction on personal lines. Governor Ron DeSantis tied the cut directly to legislative reforms enacted in recent years, calling it evidence that the state’s insurance…
Retirees with traditional IRAs or workplace retirement plans face a hard deadline that carries real financial consequences. Anyone who reached age 73 after December 31, 2022, must withdraw a required minimum distribution by December 31 each year or pay a 25% excise tax on the shortfall. The penalty, cut from 50% under prior law by…
Workers with family health coverage through a high-deductible plan will be able to set aside more than $9,000 in a health savings account for the first time when the 2027 tax year begins. The IRS announced the new annual ceiling in Revenue Procedure 2026-24, published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-24, following the statutory inflation-adjustment formula…
People who applied for jobs at Boeing in Washington state without receiving legally required pay information can file a claim for an estimated $1,396 under a class action settlement, and they do not need to provide any documentation to do so. The deadline to submit a claim is June 29, 2026. The case centers on…
Tens of millions of taxpayers who paid penalties on returns filed between 2020 and 2023 could be owed refunds by the IRS, but they have just 34 days to act. The National Taxpayer Advocate has urged eligible filers to submit claims before a July 10 deadline, arguing that COVID-19 disaster relief rules effectively extended filing…
Any consumer in the United States can place a one-year fraud alert on their credit file at no cost, and that single step forces every lender or creditor checking the file to verify the applicant’s identity before opening a new account, issuing an additional card, or raising a credit limit. The protection is grounded in…
Florida homeowners who rely on Citizens Property Insurance Corporation for wind coverage face a hard choice: buy flood insurance or lose that protection. A phased mandate written into state law already stripped wind eligibility from personal-lines residential policies above $400,000 that lacked flood coverage as of January 1, 2026. The next and final phase extends…